Betting giant Flutter overhauls management at US FanDuel unit
Major Management Changes and Financial Outlook at FanDuel
Leadership Transition at FanDuel
DUBLIN, May 6 (Reuters) - Betting giant Flutter made major management changes at its U.S. FanDuel brand on Wednesday, saying FanDuel CEO Amy Howe had left the company and that Flutter veteran Dan Taylor would oversee the U.S. business in a new, beefed-up role.
Reasons Behind the Management Overhaul
The changes come a little over two months since Flutter surprised analysts by forecasting 2026 core profit growth of 4% compared to growth of over 20% in each of the previous four years, citing challenges in the U.S. market, where FanDuel has a leading 39% share.
"It's no secret that FanDuel has underperformed, but looking forward, we've got to get the right team in place to support the business," CEO Peter Jackson told Reuters.
Jackson said the decision to leave was not Howe’s.
Financial Performance and Forecasts
The world's largest online betting company nudged its full-year forecast growth down to just 1% on Wednesday, although its first quarter profit came in ahead of expectations.
New Roles and Responsibilities
Taylor, who is currently CEO of Flutter's international unit that includes established brands such as Paddy Power, Betfair and Sportsbet, will assume the newly created role of President of Flutter Entertainment, taking on oversight of the FanDuel business in addition to his existing responsibilities.
Christian Genetski, currently president of FanDuel, will assume leadership of the FanDuel business following Howe's exit. Howe became CEO in 2021 as a boom in U.S. sports betting took off following a lifting of a ban there in 2018.
Strategic Reflections and Market Agility
Jackson said in the company's results announcement that he had been reflecting for some time on how to ensure the company remained agile in the key U.S. market and that the changes will ensure the right structure is in place to do so.
Market Trends and Analyst Reactions
Flutter's first-quarter EBITDA of $631 million, up 2.4% year-on-year, was above the $614 million expected by analysts, despite it reporting that the marketwide trends that hurt U.S. trading in the fourth quarter continued to the end of March.
It lowered its full-year adjusted EBITDA forecast to $2.87 billion from $2.97 billion in February, citing further unfavorable sports results and the costs associated with an earlier than expected launch of FanDuel in Arkansas.
Analysts had pared their forecast back to $2.9 billion before Wednesday's update from the $3.5 billion seen earlier this year.
Impact of Prediction Markets
Flutter added that it continued to see only a limited cannibalization impact on sports betting from the rapid growth of prediction markets in the U.S.
(Reporting by Graham Fahy and Padraic Halpin; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel Wallis)
